Preparation of Homogeneous 'Living' Polyvinyl Gels with Application to Solvent Purification.

Abstract

A method is presented for maintaining a high level of purity in organic solvents to be used in anionic polymerizations. The development of this technique has entailed synthesis of structurally unique polyvinyl gels which are labile to anionic initiation. Preparation of macroscopic homogeneous gels from divinylbenzene (DVB) and ethylstyrene (ES) is shown to result in the immobilization of a significant amount of residual vinyl groups. Conditions necessary for eliminating unwanted syneresis during the gelation include initiation of the reaction with butyllithium and polymerization in a nonpolar solvent (e.g. benzene) to which an appropriate amount of tetrahydrofuran (THF) has been added. The success of this method in obtaining the desired product is attributed to the influence of the THF on the polymerization of DVB; a mechanism is proposed and experimentally supported which accounts for the observed results. (Author)

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 16, 1980
Accession Number
ADA088883

Entities

People

  • Frank S. Bates
  • Robert E. Cohen

Organizations

  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Alkenes
  • Biomedical And Dental Materials
  • Chemical Analysis
  • Chemical Engineering
  • Chemical Reactions
  • Chemical Synthesis
  • Chemistry
  • Engineering
  • Materials
  • Materials Processing
  • Materials Science
  • Military Research
  • Molecular Weight
  • Polymerization
  • Polymers

Fields of Study

  • Chemistry

Readers

  • Polymer Science and Technology
  • Systems Analysis and Design